On the morning of 17 April 1860, boxing's inaugural "world title" match took place. Though illegal, sporting historians accept that John C. Heenan vs Tom Sayers (U.S. vs England, in a Hampshire field) was the first of many thousands of "fights of the century." Here's TIME's selection of the greatest bouts of all time

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns, Sept. 16, 1981

This early 80s showdown at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas — billed as “The Showdown” — between WBC welterweight champ “Sugar” Ray Leonard and the hitherto undefeated Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, owner of the WBA crown, was a fight of beauty, full of an ebb and flow throughout. They were fighting to unify the World Welterweight Championship and the stakes couldn’t have been higher. First Hearns, then Leonard and then Hearns again held the lead. Between rounds 12 and 13, Leonard’s trainer, the legendary Angelo Dundee, exclaimed “You’re blowing it, son! You’re blowing it!” Leonard simply exploded in the 13th, knocking Hearns through the ropes. He didn’t relent and finished him off in the 14th with a furious flurry of punches that forced referee Davey Pearl to call a halt to proceedings. Even worse for Hearns was that he was actually leading on all the judges’ scorecards up to that point.